W.E.B. Du BoisENGL 362Fall 2014

Jenna ConnerSarah OatesTamar Sparrow

Early life:-Born William Edward Burghardt Dubois on February 23, 1868 in Great barrington, MA

- Member of small free black community

-Attended integrated schools

-He was very intelligent and encouraged by educators to pursue education

-He wanted to use his mind to empower African Americans

-First attended Fisk University, a historically Black college in Nashville (1885-1888)

-Nashville was his first experience with racism (Jim Crow Laws, Lynchings)

-Then went to Harvard (1888-1890), followed by the University of Berlin

-Upon his return from Berlin, Dubois was the first African American to earn a Ph.D. in history from Harvard

Professional Beginnings:-Took a job at Wilberforce University in Ohio where he was influenced by Alexander Crummell and his opinion that ideas and morals are necessary for social change

-While there he married his student Nina Gomer (1896)

-After Wilberforce, he took a year long research position at the University of Pennsylvania in sociological research in Philadelphia's African American neighborhoods

-This research lead to his milestone study in The Philadelphia Negro, the first case study about black communities

-Coined the term “talented tenth;” one in every ten black men become leaders of their race

-1897 attended the Negro Academy where he presented a paper rejecting Frederick Douglass’ call for black people to integrate into white society, and calling for African Americans to embrace their African heritage

Atlanta Compromise:-1895

-Booker T. Washington was the main proponent of the agreement between African Americans and Southern White Americans

-According to the agreement, blacks would not ask to vote, fight back against racist behavior, and would tolerate segregation and discrimination

-BUT they would receive basic education (limited to vocational/industrial training, NO liberal arts/classic education), and due process of law

-Dubois fought back

-Said blacks should actively participate in the struggle for civil rights

-Called the aforementioned agreement the “Atlanta Compromise,” in order to undermine it

Atlanta University:-1897-1909-Professor of History, Sociology and Economics-1903: The Souls of Black Folk - on the African American experience-Returns from 1934-1944-Black Reconstruction in America - reevaluation of the role of African Americans in Civil War

The Souls of Black Folk:-Published in 1903

-Book of essays about race

-Reflects Dubois’ own experiences as an African American in white American society

-In this book, Dubois argues against Booker T. Washington’s stance that black men should focus on labor-focused/industrial education, and instead calls for Black men to get a classical education in order to become leaders and not simply workers

-Dubois justifies the reaching for higher education for African Americans and relates it to the rise of the Black middle class.

First Pan-African Conference:-Pan-African Congress - series of 7 meetings: 1919-1994-1st meeting: July 20-25, 1921-Address issues facing Africa as a result of European colonization of most of the continent -Reputation as a peace-maker for decolonization in Africa and in the West Indies

NAACP:-Had previously founded the Niagra Movement in 1905

-Civil rights group, precursor to NAACP

-Founding member of the National Association of the Advancement of Colored People in 1910

-Became editor of the NAACP magazine, The Crisis-Resigned in 1934, then later returned as a director of special research from 1944-1948

Double Consciousness:-Famous Theory

-Refers to psychological challenge of resolving African heritage with White/European society, education, and culture

-Two cultures in conflict to create an African American identity, not just African and not just white American, but a mixture

-The internalizing of this conflict is referred to as “Double Consciousness”-People begin to see themselves through the negative images of other people (racism), and as a result, low self-esteem.

Political Implications:-Lifelong anti-war activist

-1949: Spoke at Scientific and Cultural Conference for World Peace

-Targeted by the government's anti-communist McCarthyism campaign in 1950s

-Became chairman of the Peace Information Center (PIC), which resulted in the government confiscating his passport for eight years - recovered in 1960 and was able to cross the Atlantic in order to celebrate the Republic of Ghana.

○ 1961: “Encyclopedia Africana”

-U.S. government refused to renew passport in 1963, so Dubois made a statement by becoming a citizen of Ghana. He died shortly after.

Dubois on his 95th birthday in Ghana

Similar Views- Southern Horrors

-Wells and Du Bois joined forces (along with others) in 1906 to further the Niagara Movement

-One of two African American women to sign “the call” to form the NAACP in 1909.

-One of few African American leaders to argue against Booker T. Washington-Similar approach and actions against lynching as Du Bois- Introduced NAACP to keeping records for lynching

Other Publications and Awards-Non Fiction Texts:

The Study of Negro Problems (1898)

The Philadelphia Negro (1899)

The Talented Tenth (1903)

The Negro (1915)

The Black Reconstruction in America (1935)

Black Folk, Then and Now (1939)

And Many More...

● NAACP’s Spingarn Medal (1920)

● USSR’s International Lenin Peace Prize (1959)

● United States Postal Service honored Du Bois with his portrait on a postage stamp (1992)

Works Cited"Atlanta Exposition Address, 1895." Black History Bulletin 1 (2005): 18. Academic OneFile. Web. 19 Oct. 2014Johnson, Donald. "W.E.B. DuBois, Thomas Jesse Jones and the Struggle for Social Education, 1900-1930." The Journal of Negro History 2000: 71. JSTOR Journals. Web. 19 Oct. 2014.Perdue, Theda. "CHAPTER ONE. Beyond The Atlanta Compromise." Georgia Southern University Jack N. and Addie D. Averitt Lecture Series. 7. Athens, GA: University of Georgia Press, 2010. Project MUSE. Web. 19 Oct. 2014.Phillips, Michelle H. "The Children Of Double Consciousness: From The Souls Of Black Folk To The Brownies' Book." PMLA: Publications Of The Modern Language Association Of America 128.3 (2013): 590. MLA International Bibliography. Web. 20 Oct. 2014.Seaton, Corey. "'W.E.B. Dubois & Booker T. Washington: Approaches To Developing Citizenship Post-Reconstruction In The America'." Kola 1 (2014): 51. Academic OneFile. Web. 19 Oct. 2014.Westbrook, Randall O. "Becoming An Exceptional Man: The Early Political Thought Of W.E.B. Dubois." Lincoln Journal Of Social & Political Thought 6.1 (2008): 36-56. Political Science Complete. Web. 19 Oct. 2014.

http://www.naacp.org/pages/naacp-history-w.e.b.-duboishttp://www.pbs.org/wnet/jimcrow/stories_people_dubois.htmlhttp://www.webdubois.orghttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/W._E._B._Du_Boishttp://www.georgiaencyclopedia.org/articles/history-archaeology/w-e-b-du-bois-georgia